Ricciardo moves clear in second session

Daniel Ricciardo emphasised Red Bull’s credentials at the Monaco Grand Prix as he stormed to the quickest time during Thursday’s second practice session.

Ricciardo, running Renault's upgraded power unit, moved to the front of the field with a 1:15.015 on the Ultra Soft tyres before improving further with a time of 1:14.607.

Ricciardo’s time proved to be 0.606s faster than Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who led the way during the morning session.

Hamilton encountered an unusual incident towards the end of the session when, while sat in the garage, the front jack bounced back and hit the nose of the W07 Hybrid, causing a minor dent.

Nico Rosberg was once again adrift of team-mate Hamilton to the tune of almost three-tenths of a second, as Max Verstappen completed the top four, nearly a second down on Ricciardo.

Toro Rosso displayed eye-catching form as Daniil Kvyat and Carlos Sainz Jr. were fifth and sixth in the STR11s.

Ferrari, meanwhile, had a difficult session as Kimi Räikkönen and Sebastian Vettel were able to place only seventh and ninth, split by Force India’s Sergio Pérez.

Räikkönen’s best time was 1.4s down on Ricciardo’s headline-grabbing line, while team-mate Vettel had two excursions into the wall.

Vettel spun at Mirabeau Haute, hitting the barriers with the rear of the SF16-H, and later clipped the exit wall at Sainte Devote, but was able to continue on both occasions.

Jenson Button nosed into the top 10 for McLaren-Honda at a circuit where the team is optimistic of points, in front of Nico Hülkenberg and Fernando Alonso.

Esteban Gutiérrez returned to action following an electrical fault in the morning session and placed 13th, in front of Valtteri Bottas, as Williams lacked pace in Monaco once more.

Bottas’ team-mate, Felipe Massa, missed the opening part of the session as a result of his earlier crash and was only 16th, behind Romain Grosjean.

The Frenchman also encountered troubles of his own as he hit the barriers under braking for the Nouvelle Chicane, causing damage to the right hand side of the car, though was able to recover his Haas to the pits.

Renault's Kevin Magnussen was 17th but slid straight on and damaged the front of his RS16 at Anthony Noghes, while Sauber pair Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr finished comfortably clear of Jolyon Palmer.

Manor's Rio Haryanto suffered a high-speed off at the Nouvelle Chicane as he lost control under braking and spun into the outside barriers, before coming to a halt in the run-off.

Haryanto was able to climb from the wreckage of his MRT05 and had set a time which proved quick enough to edge out team-mate Pascal Wehrlein, despite completing only 10 laps.